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Reef’s dad has had previous snow experience, but saw the joy of it through their eyes behind a hotel where they are staying temporarily.

"Literally, when Reef was diagnosed in the beginning, they told us that he wouldn't live longer than a week with his diagnosis in South Africa. So to be able to see my son enjoying something as simple as snow and running around makes my heart sing," Ryan Carneson said.

The family of four moved to Los Angeles three years ago for Reef's medical treatment. They arrived in Cincinnati this weekend to consult with the oncology team at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, because there's been some backsliding in his condition, although you'd never know it from the giggles and delightful laughter during his first snow day.

"If ever I wanted to see snow, it would be with my children," an elated Lydia Carneson said after sliding down a snowy hillside and throwing a handful of the white stuff in the air.

For them, this day was both a temporary respite from Reef's medical struggles and a timeless memory of unbridled joy. Reef takes at least 10 different daily medications. He has to be bathed and rubbed with a special cream and is pretty much isolated on most days.

"He really wants to go out, like you saw, in the snow," his mother said after the family returned inside to dry the kids off. "He wants to be a child. He wants to be a kid and have fun and have friends and he can't. It's very heartbreaking."

Donations and support grew from media stories about Reef's plight.

"We're humbled by the fact that people have taken such an interest in our beautiful little boy," Ryan Carneson said.

The boy's leukemia has been in remission for more than five years. But the last six months or so have been particularly problematic. That is why the family flew to Cincinnati.

Ryan and Lydia Carneson meet with the medical team at Children's first thing Wednesday morning. They hope a new treatment plan can be implemented and provide stability for their son.

They said his skin cancer is a rare kind that cannot simply be surgically removed or burned off, because his skin doesn't heal. The snow that inconvenienced so many people became a celebratory symbol of hope for the Carneson family.

"We wouldn't be here without the help from others," said Reef's mother, referring to donations and support from people who have seen news accounts of the boy's condition.

Sometimes, to borrow a bit of verbal grace from Lincoln, the better snow angels of our nature surface at times in unexpected and unconditional ways.